Hotels near Tate Modern

Tate Modern

Located along the banks of the River Thames in the former Bankside Power Station, originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1947, the architect of Battersea Power Station, Tate Modern opened to great acclaim in 2000. Since then it has welcomed millions of visitors through its imposing doors. If you are visiting for the first time, you should approach from Blackfriars Station, crossing Norman Foster's 'Blade of Light' Millennium Bridge footbridge, walking towards this spectacular modernist masterpiece with the dome of St Paul's Cathedral behind you. The gallery pays homage to art from 1900 to the present day while the awesome Turbine Hall creates a stunning entrance and a vast space, used to display temporary installations on a grand scale. There are three levels of galleries enclosed by a spectacular two-storey glass roof that provides fantastic views of London and a great cafe. Full of the jokey eccentricities of contemporary art, it's one of the few art galleries that children and teenagers will enjoy, but it also offers the full set of iconic twentieth century artists, from Matisse to Moore, Dali to Picasso. Justifiably the most popular art gallery in Europe.